Madeira's Andrew Benintendi makes his GABP debut

Here is a look at where eight major leaguers with Cincinnati-area ties will be opening the 2017 MLB season.
The Enquirer/Michael Nyerges

Cincinnati native, Boston Red Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi (16), takes the plate in the first inning of the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox at Great American Ball Park on Sept. 22, 2017.(Photo: Sam Greene)

Although Andrew Benintendi couldn’t confirm that his uncle actually bought more than 1,000 tickets in the bleachers for friends and family from Madeira, he didn’t exactly doubt it.

“I don't know anybody who's not coming,” the Red Sox outfielder said before Friday’s game against the Reds.

A 2013 graduate of Madeira High School, Benintendi made his Great American Ball Park debut as the Red Sox came to Cincinnati for a three-game series starting on Friday.

The group in sections 404 and 405 – and pretty much every other section in the park – were certainly heard when Benintendi was announced in the first inning and then after he walked to load the bases for Mookie Betts.

One of the best young players in the game, Benintendi was batting third for the Red Sox against the Reds and Sal Romano. He entered Friday’s game hitting .278/.357/.434 with 19 home runs and 87 RBI.

“He's embraced the two- and three-hole in our lineup and in some series carried us,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “For a guy that's just … two years removed from the draft, we're glad we have him. The game is extremely important to him and how he continues to advance as a player. He's very attentive, highly competitive and he's got physical abilities and talent that makes him a very graceful athlete on the field.”

Benintendi said he would come to “four-or-five” games a year at Great American Ball Park, usually sitting in the Diamond Club. What struck him was the size of the players. From there, he’d see Adam Dunn, Justin Upton or some of the other big names in the game and be awed by their size.

He laughed that he was “probably 5-foot-6, 115 at the time.” He’s not that much bigger now, 5-10, 170 pounds, but he’s one of the game’s bright young stars.

After a record-setting career at Madeira, the Reds drafted Benintendi in the 31st round of the 2013 draft, but he never gave a thought of signing with the Reds (or any team), he said.

“Once it got past the second round, I was going to school,” he said. “It's probably one of the better decisions I'd ever made, honestly. I don't think I was ready out of high school to play such a long season. My body wasn't mature enough, I don't think.

“I still had to lift and eat right and things like that. That's what I learned in college. It was awesome to be able to say I was drafted by the Reds out of high school. There was never any thought about signing.”

Benintendi won pretty much every award an amateur player can win as a sophomore at the University of Arkansas, including the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy. Because of his age, he was draft-eligible in 2015 and was taken No. 7 overall by the Red Sox, four spots before the Reds took high school catcher Tyler Stephenson (and two spots before the University of Cincinnati’s Ian Happ went to the Cubs).

He made his big-league debut just more than a year later and hit .295/.359/.476 in 34 games at the end of the 2016 season before making the team out of spring training in 2017.

Thursday he was back in his hometown, spending time with family and friends during the Red Sox off day in Cincinnati. On Friday, he was honored at Madeira Middle School, where the band played “Sweet Caroline,” a chorus sang “Take Me Out To the Ball Game,” he gave a short speech and a banner at the baseball field was unveiled that said “Home of Andrew Benintendi” along with pictures of him in high school and with the Red Sox.

As he sat in the dugout at GABP, not too far from those Diamond Club seats he used to frequent, Benintendi didn’t seem too excited about the prospect of playing at home, noting he’d played in front of friends and family before. One thing, though, did excite him.

“I heard the ball flies here, it's not like Fenway where you have to hit it 400 feet to right-center for it to be a homer,” he said. “I’m looking forward to going out there and seeing it.”